


Lost Colors

by WishaDream



Series: Things I wrote in Middle/High school [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: High School, I remember actually being proud of this story, Magical Creatures, On the Run, Other, created a whole world for it, like thinking there could be a whole series set in this world, magical beings, or something, outcasts, realizing things you've been taught as a child are wrong, shape shifting, younger me had a lot of ambition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:29:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24810859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishaDream/pseuds/WishaDream
Summary: On a school field trip Trinity gets into trouble and releases one of the exhibits.
Series: Things I wrote in Middle/High school [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794586





	Lost Colors

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't even remember writing half of these but I remember enjoying writing them so I thought I'd share some of them in case someone got some joy out of reading them. I didn't really have the time to rewrite any of them, some I know I've gone over several times to make better, some I think are the first draft, but again, more for entertainment than anything. Hopefully you'll enjoy them (unsure grimace.)

Story Two  
Lost Colors

The Craydorian zoo filled with the sounds of students’ voices as they entered. The group of three schools had all come for a field trip to learn about the different creatures of the world of Craydoria. The zoo was built much more like a museum than a zoo, with the creatures kept in grass cages with plants and things inside making it look like their regular habitations.  
Gamboge, a tight lipped man with wire-rim glasses and golden hair stepped in front of the group of kids in his class. The students continued to talk, not seeming to notice their teacher. He cleared his throat, with only a partial notice.  
“ATTENTION CLASS!” everyone turned and looked at him. He nodded, satisfied. “Remember class, stay with your partner and we’ll meet back here in two hours. I expect you to have a creature chosen to do a report on by the time you get back.” The class groaned. “You will then have to research it and it will be due in two days. You may go.”  
The members of the class dispersed, breaking into their little groups of friends as they headed off to different sections of the zoo. A girl with hair the shade of carmine, a deep red color, separated from everyone in her class. The girl that had been standing beside her noticed that she wasn’t there a few seconds after she had left. Her strawberry blonde hair flipped back and forth as she looked around, worry lines forming on her forehead. “Trinity? Trinity where are you.”  
Trinity waited till no one appeared to be looking and then headed into a section of the zoo marked “Under renovation.” The sign above read “Rare Creatures” and boasted on a plaque at eye level that it contained the rarest of the rare animals in all the land.   
Inside the room, it was dimly lit and there were only about a dozen glass cases. Dust from the construction covered the ground and half a dozen of the cages inside were open and cleaned out, the animals having been removed for the remodel. But there still seemed to be a few creatures left in the hall such as a creature that looked like a cross between an arachnid and a rodent.   
Making her way slowly through the room, she stopped at each case long enough to see if anything was inside before continuing to the next one. Coming to the last stall she looked in. A little puddle of a pond was in the farthest corner of the cage. A poor excuse for a tree barely stood in the middle of the cage and the ground was more dirt than grass. The whole area around this little glass case seemed to have not been touched at all by the construction. No dust covered the ground around it. It was like they weren't going to do anything with this area. A half eaten bowl sat near the pond, letting her know something was still inside. Getting up on the landing in front of the glass she got up closer, peering in. The sign in front of the cage read “Rare Chromite.” She had heard about them before, how they looked like monsters in Primar form. She wanted to see for herself.  
This was how it worked. Primaries were just regular people who made up the majority of the population of Craydorian. Then in the last 30 or more years Chromites showed up. They were Primaries born with special powers, genetic mutations. Feared by the people of Craydoria, they were all hunted down and locked up, being used for weird experiments or entertainment. They were very rare and had become even more so in the last 10 years since the great Boyler Massacre 15 years ago.  
Very little of this information was taught in school. And when told about them, it was more common to hear that they were just monsters with evil dark powers gained from pacts with devils. The knowledge that Chromites had once come from Primaries had all but been lost to the public and no one cared to think of them as anything but monsters anymore.  
Trinity didn’t care anything about any of this information. She just wanted to see a Chromar. She tapped on the glass. “Hello. Anyone in there?”  
A movement in the right corner caught her eye. She looked over as the shadowed figure moved quickly from the corner to behind the stick of a tree. She tapped on the glass again. “Hey.”  
The creature peeked its head from behind the tree, looking at her. Shadows from the dim lights still covered it so that she wasn’t able to make out its features.  
“Oh come on. Come closer.”  
The Chromite seemed to have heard her, even though she was sure the glass was soundproof, and stepped out from behind the glass. She gasped as she saw a regular looking boy with cerulean blue hair step towards her. Was he one of the workers? His clothes were worn thin and torn, he couldn’t be a worker. But then who was he?  
“Hey, where’s the Chromite? Can you hear me?”  
He stepped closer, a big grin on his face. He hadn’t seemed to hear her.  
She reached up with her hand, resting it against the cool surface of the glass as she leaned in closer to get a better look at him. His eyes were the strangest thing she had ever seen. They were of a silver color, which seemed to swirl around the black of his pupil in a constant motion.  
“Are you the Chromite?”  
The boy didn’t answer as he stepped up to the glass of the cage. Reaching up he placed his hand up to the glass, over where her hand was. She turned her head and stared at his hand. His fingers were long and slender, just like the rest of his body. She wondered if it was because he wasn’t fed enough, but his body was too muscular for someone caged up. She wondered if he was a new arrival.   
Noticing a movement in the corner of her eye she turned and looked from the boys hand to the rest of him. Her eyes widened as she found his face suddenly right in front of hers. The skin of his lips pressed against hers as he kissed her. She fell back from the glass, her whole face showed how surprised she was at the sight of half of the boy’s body leaning through the inch thick glass of the case.  
“What are you?”  
He made a sweeping bow and motioned to the sign reading “Chromite.”  
Sirens started up then, red lights flashing. Guards rushed into the room. They took one look at her and then headed straight for the Chromite who still stood half way outside the glass. The guard at the front pulled out his Subter, a weapon specifically built to neutralize Chromites no matter their power. He fired, the weapon shooting out a half moon shaped blue ball which hit the boy in the chest. He fell forward, completely outside the cage now. Two of the guards picked him up and headed to a door that read “Employees only.” The man that had fired the Subter walked over to the girl and held his hand down to her.  
“Are you okay?”  
She nodded and reached up for his hand, noting the name “Cordovan” on his badge. “Thank you sir.”  
She had noticed when he first came in that his uniform was different from the other two men. They wore the guard uniforms of the zoo while he wore a medium brown uniform with gold trim and burgundy cuffs. It was obvious he was an Acrylite, a special force set up to catch the remaining Chromites in Craydoria.  
The man’s uniform looked especially sharp, pressed to perfection. His slightly golden brown hair was perfectly jelled into place. He looked to the girl to be in his early twenties. He lifted her up, smiling arrogantly. “It was nothing. But miss, you shouldn’t have been in there. This area is under construction. I will take you back to your school group.”  
Trinity thought of her teacher, Gamboge’s, reaction to finding she had not stayed with the group. She would pass.  
“Thank but I think I can find them myself.” She waved and ran out of the hall, hiding herself in the crowd just in case he came after her.  
The Acrylite sighed and pressed a button on his radio. “We had a breach in the rare creatures area with the Chromite again. I think it’s time we move him.”  
The radio crackled as the reply came, “Affirmative. It will be taken care of immediately.”

Trinity ran up to her school group and stopped beside her friend Maze Tawny. She turned, the freckles sparkling from the sweat on her face as she said with a strained smile, “Oh Trinity where were you? Gamboge was just here looking for you. I had to lie and tell him you were in the bathroom.”  
The girl patted her friends back. “Thanks Maze, you’re a life saver. If Gamboge found out I wasn’t with the group I’d have another detention.”  
“Where were you anyway?” Maze dabbed at her face with a handkerchief. She would never know why she still hung out with Trinity with all the stress she caused her. It must have been the little bit of excitement she brought to Maze’s boringly normal life.  
Trinity smiled and leaned in so only her friend could hear, “I was in the rare creature’s exhibit.”  
“But wasn’t that closed for construction? Why would you want to go somewhere where nothing would be?”  
“But there was something there. A Chromite.”  
He friend gasped.  
Someone cleared their throat behind the two girls. “Well Miss Alizarin I hope you had a pleasant time in the restroom.”  
Trinity turned and smiled sweetly at her teacher. “Why yes, thank you Mr. Gamboge. I hear you were looking for me. Did you want something?”  
Gamboge frowned, his lips growing thinner than usual. “Yes I did. I wanted to make sure you hadn’t run off like you always do. I’m keeping a close eye on you. I will not have another Carbonjole incident.” He turned and stalked off grumbling to himself as he went, “If I had had my way, she wouldn’t have even come.”  
Trinity grinned, folding her arms as she watched him go. “We’ll see how well your eyes are Mr. Gamboge. I’m too slick for you.”  
Maze reached over and grabbed her friends arm, her stubby fingers gripping it tightly. “Oh please don’t do anything today Trini. Can’t we just have a nice quiet field trip today?”  
Trinity gave her friend a sympathetic look and patted her on the head. “Hey, I don’t do it on purpose, trouble just finds me. Besides, Maze. Mr. Gamboge expects me to do something and I can’t disappoint him. It’s tradition.”  
Her friend sighed. “Well try not to accidentally do anything too drastic this time.”  
“I can’t make any promises but I’ll try.” Trinity looked over at Gamboge who was talking with another teacher. “Later.” She squeezed between two people and hurried off through the crowd.  
Maze dabbed her face with her kerchief.

Trinity hid behind a pillar as she waited for the man on guard to pass. Once he had she hurried over to the door marked “Employees Only” and slipped her homemade lock pick into the key hole. There was a slight click and she opened the door. She entered and closed the door quietly behind her. A long hall stretched before her, doors spaced 2 feet apart on each side.  
“Great, which one is it?”  
Her footsteps echoed dully through the hall as she walked down it. Each door looked exactly the same as the others. None had a label to hint at what might be found behind it.  
Trinity rubbed the back of her neck. “Well how in the world do they find anything in this place?”  
She turned her head, the sound of someone screaming coming from further down the hall. The cries grew louder as she ran towards the sound. The sounds of torture suddenly stopped and so did Trinity. She turned her head, facing her ear towards the direction she thought the sound had come from, straining to hear something, anything. The sound didn’t start again.  
Sighing she slid down to her knees. She wasn’t sure but she felt that it was the boy from earlier that had been screaming. And she had a sinking suspicion that the reason he was hurting was all her fault. He wouldn’t have “attacked” her if she hadn’t been there.   
Rising to her feet she clenched her fist in front of her. She wasn’t going to give up just yet. She had some questions for the Chromite.  
She came to the last door at the end of the hall. The only thing that distinguished it from the rest of the doors was a tiny sign with the letters T.F. on it. This had to be it. Trinity reached out and clutched the cold knob in her hands. She turned it slowly, holding her breath till she pushed the door forward. It opened.   
Inside looked like a dentist’s office, from your nightmares. A tray with shiny tools sat next to a straight backed chair. And in the seat sat the blue haired boy, strapped to it like someone on death row.  
Trinity stepped to the side of the chair and looked him over. Two nodes were attached to his temples which looked slightly scorched and smoked slightly. She jumped back as he groaned. He turned his head slowly and eyed her with his eerie silver eyes. His lip twitched in a grin.  
“What are you doing here?”  
Trinity licked her lips and stepped closer. She shrugged casually. “I just wanted to see what you were up to.”  
“Oh.” He turned his head away from her.  
“So, you’re a Chromite, right?”  
“Yeah. Why?”  
“I was just wondering. I heard you looked like monsters, not like us.”  
“Yeah well, there are a lot of things about us that people don’t know.”  
“Like about the glass thing.”  
He turned his head back around and looked at her. “Glass thing.”  
She nodded. “When you like phased through it. Can all Chromites do that?”  
“No. Every Chromite has a different ability. It’s our Gamut. Mine is the ability to pass my body through solid objects.”  
“If that’s true, then why didn’t you do it earlier and escape?”  
“The Subters around my case were keeping my powers null. Then the construction knocked them out and I got them back.”  
“So you decided to get in a kiss before you left?”  
He shrugged. “I thought it would make things more interesting. I was bored.”  
“Oh.” She smiled and nodded. “I understand.”  
He stared at her and then laughed. She cocked her head to the side.  
“What’s so funny?”  
He shook his head. “Nothing. I’ve just never met a Primar like you. And being in that case I’ve seen a lot of them.”  
“So Chromites are just born with that Gamut thing? Can a Primar have one?”  
“No. Unless you’re really a Chromite and don’t know it.”  
“Oh.” She fingered one of the pointy instruments on the tray. “That’s too bad. Sounds like it would be fun.”  
“It is. But not always. Not when you’re being chased by the Acrylites.”  
“Yeah. They sound like a pain.”   
She asked him a little more about Chromites and he told her. He told her of their origin, of the event that caused the Boyler massacre, and many more things.  
After awhile he sighed and pulled at his restraints. “So uh, since you’re here, can you loosen these for me?”   
“Yeah uh, how dumb do you think I am?”  
“Dumb enough to come into a room marked under construction and put you face right up to a cage with who knows what inside.”  
She grinned. “Touché.” She glanced around the room. No one else seemed to be there. “I guess just a little.” She took a hold of one of the straps and started pulling at it.  
“Thanks. I’ll remember this kindness.”  
“Well what good is that going to do me?”  
“I’m sure it will come in handy. Someday.”  
She pulled at the last trap and patted his foot. “There, all better.” She looked up at him and smiled  
“Thanks. And sorry.”  
She frowned. “What do you me--.”  
Something flashed in his hand as he pulled it out of the strap. She felt a sharp pain as the thing in his hand sank into her skin. She looked over as the syringe injected its contents. She looked back at him. He gave her an apologetic smile.  
“Again, thanks. It’s been fun.”  
His face blurred as she felt the world beneath her give out. She hit the ground with a sickening thud as her head banged against the ground. The boy winced.  
“That’s going to hurt later.” He pulled his other arm out of the straps and then started undoing his legs. Red lights flashed as the computer noticed his sudden absence from the table. He looked back at the girl as he stood at the door to the room. He sighed and went back, throwing her over his shoulder. He wouldn’t leave her to get the heat for this.

^ ^ ^

“..inity…Trinity.” Maze’s voice broke through the haze of her unconsciousness.  
Trinity’s eyes fluttered open, her friends face blurred at first, then slowly came into focus. Her head throbbed from the lights and the movement of her body as she sat up.  
“Oh Trinity I was so worried. Guards were running all over the place and I was afraid you were caught, but then some boy told me to look in the bathroom. I’m so glad you are okay.” Her friend hugged her, making her head throb worse.  
“Uh, thanks Maze.” She pushed her friend back. “What did the boy look like?”  
“I didn’t really get a good look at him. But I did see he had blue hair.”  
Trinity sighed. It seemed the boy had told the truth when he’d said he’d pay her back later. She was upset that he had drugged and failed to catch her, but at least he had gotten her out of the lab before the guards got there.  
“Come on Trini, we have to go. They are asking everyone here where they were and stuff. They think someone here today freed him.” Maze helped her friend up, letting her lean against her as her legs were wobbly.  
“Well this isn’t good. You’re no good at lying Maze. If they ask you if you know anything you won’t be able to tell them you don’t.”  
“But I don’t know anything. I don’t even know where you went.”  
“True. Just remember that and I’ll tell you what happened later.” She rubbed her forehead as the throbbing turned to a sharp pain. “Much later.”  
The two walked out of the bathroom, Maze holding up the full weight of her friend as her legs would not keep her up. No one noticed them in all the hullabaloo as they made their way to a bench and sat down.  
“Do you think Mr. Gamboge will know?”  
Trinity shook her head, quickly regretting the movement. “No. And even if he does he can’t prove it. I was with you the whole time, even if he didn’t see me. Now, where did you go while I was gone so I can lie properly?”  
“Well first we…”

Trinity notice Mr. Gamboge’s eyes boring into her as she told the guards her story.   
“So what is this all about?” she asked when she had finished her story.  
The guards looked at each other and then smiled. “Oh nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about. You can go back to your class.”  
She smiled and made a laugh like the preppy airhead girls always did. “Okay.” She turned and skipped off.  
Mr. Gamboge frowned, not having believed any of her story. He walked over to the guards who were intently watching Trinity’s departure. “Excuse me. You don’t really believe that girl’s story do you?”  
The guards reluctantly turned back around to look at him. “And why not?”  
“Because she is a notorious liar and trouble maker. I don’t know how much of an involvement she had in whatever is happening, but I know she must know something.”  
The guards frowned. “I think you are a little paranoid sir. She’s just an innocent little school girl. We’re not really suspecting any of the students here; we just have to interview them for security reasons.”  
“Well she should be at the top of your list.”  
One of the guards grinned and mumbled to his friend, “I’d like her at the top of my list.”  
His friend laughed. “I’m sorry sir for bothering you. You may go back with your class now.”  
Gamboge exhaled through his nose exasperatedly. “Fine.” He turned and stomped off towards his class. He stepped over where Trinity and Maze were talking. “This isn’t over yet Miss Alizarin.”  
She turned and smiled. “I sure hope not Mr. Gamboge. Then life would just be too boring.”  
He puffed out his cheeks and turned sharply on his heal and marched off.  
Trinity turned back to her friend and smiled. “See, I told you we had nothing to worry about. Gamboge has got nothing and he will never get anything on me.”  
“Oh I sure hope so Trini. Whatever happened here is big and if you get caught I don’t think it will be anything like a detention. Whoever gets caught for this is gonna go to jail, or worse.”  
“Oh don’t be such a worrywart. Come on, let’s go get an icy.” Trinity put her arm around her friend and steered her through the crowd. The icy was as much for her head as for her stomach.

^ ^ ^

Trinity and Maze sat in their pajamas in the middle of a pile of pillows and candy wrappers later that night. Trinity lay on her stomach, feet slowly moving back and forth in the air as she flipped through a sports magazine.   
Trinity had just finished telling her friend the story of what had happened at the museum that night. Her friend had a more normal reaction to the situation.  
Maze lowered the candy bar from her mouth and gaped at her friend. “So, he kissed you, because he was bored? What kind of person does that?”  
Trinity shrugged. “It’s no big deal. He was bored. I can understand. I could see my self doing something like too if I was in his situation.” She turned a page in the magazine, not looking up.  
Her friend stared at her. She had known her friend found entertainment with weird things, but this was ridiculous. “But wasn’t that your first kiss?”  
“Yeah so. It’s no big deal. It’s just a kiss.”  
“Just a kiss? Just a kiss?!” Trinity looked up hearing the hysteria in her friend’s voice. “I wish I could have ‘just a kiss.’”  
“Really it’s not anything. It’s just like…hugging. Only with your face.” She looked back down at the magazine. “You’ll find out when you get a kiss.”  
“I’ll be so lucky if I even get a hug from a boy.”  
“Oh come on Maze, don’t be so down on yourself. You’re pretty.” She sat up.  
“I’m not like you Trini. I’m not tall and slender like you. You’re like a model.”  
Trinity snorted. “Hardly.”  
“I’m more like a pot roast.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous.”  
“Boy’s are always staring at you.”  
“That’s just because of my hair.”  
“Yeah, and that’s only one of the things that’s pretty about you. There’s also your stunning gold eyes.”  
“Why Maze Tawny, do you have a crush on me?”  
He friend groaned and rolled her eyes. “Come on Trinity, I’m being serious here. You got kissed by a boy and you don’t know how momentous this is. It does not happen everyday.”  
Trinity made a gagging sound and replied sarcastically, “Yeah well for half of our class it does.”  
Maze sighed. “You are hopeless. Why in the world is a body like yours wasted on someone with your personality?”  
“Thanks Maze, that doesn’t hurt at all.”  
“Oh you know what I mean. Someone with your body should be going after the hottest guy in school. Or dating some model. Or becoming a model!”  
“And someone with my personality should just be some homely girl so my body isn’t wasted on someone who doesn’t care to lose it.” She stopped her friend from replying. “I know what you mean. Trust me; having a great body isn’t everything, or that great. Now Maze Tawny,” Trinity stood up and pointed the pillow in her hand at her friends head, “I challenge you to a pillow fight.”  
“Oh Trini, that’s for children. Girls our age don’t really do that at slumber parties.”  
Trinity hit her friend in the head. “Yeah, well I do.” She hit her friend again and then jumped off the bed. “Now come in get me.”  
Maze grabbed a pillow as she stood up. “Here I come!”

Outside their window a small gray screech owl cocked its head to the side and watched the two girls chase each other around the room, feathers flying. The owl ruffled its own feathers and then spread out its wings and flapped, rising into the air. Wings beat the air as the grey owl glided away from the house. A few miles away the owl landed on the thick branch of a tree. Bones cracked and muscles stretched as the owl transformed into a fluffy headed boy with gray hair and big brown eyes. He scurried down the tree and hurried over to the waiting car.  
“So?”  
The boy’s head flitted back and forth side to side, the tufts of hair which stuck up like ears shook as he did so. “She seems fine. Her and some short chubby girl were hitting each other with pillows.”  
The other boy nodded and tossed the owl boy a dead rat. The boy gulped it down and licked his lips. “Good job Char. You can head back to base now.”  
“You don’t want my back up?”  
“No. I’ve got this. Thanks.”  
Char nodded. His shoulders popped out and his body shifted as changed back into the small form of an owl. He flapped his wings and flew off. The boy watched him go and then ran his hand through his blue hair and sighed. He got into the car and drove off.

^ ^ ^

The sun peeked through the window the next morning at the two girls who were sprawled on the ground which was covered in feathers and pillow cases. The girl with the deep red hair moaned and swatted at a feather tickling her nose. She rolled over, flopping her hand onto the back of the strawberry blonde’s back. The freckled girl’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled.  
“Trini. Trini wake up.”  
Her friend moaned and swatted at her. She laughed and scooted back from her friends flailing hand. “Trinity it’s time to get up.”  
“Five more minutes.”  
“No.” Maze sat up and started shaking her friend. “We have to get ready for school.”  
“School? Make that five more years.” Trinity rolled away from her friend.  
Maze put her hands on her hips. “Come on Trini, we have to get up. If you don’t get up now I’m gonna come back and pour cold water on you.”  
“You wouldn’t dare.” Trinity heard her friend stand up and walk out of the room. She had started to doze back to sleep when she was jolted wide awake by a bucket of cold water. She sat up, coughing as she pulled her hair away from her eyes and stared at her friend in disbelief.   
Maze laughed. “You look like my dog after his bath.”  
Trinity made a growling sound and jumped up. “Oh it’s on!”  
Maze laughed as Trinity chased her out of the room.

Trinity pulled a black vest over her white shirt. She glanced back at her friend as she buttoned it. “Are you almost done?”  
“I don’t know how you do it. I started getting ready way before you and you are the one telling me to hurry now.”  
Trinity smiled. “Yeah well, I don’t put on as much as you do.”  
Maze stared at her reflection and finished her makeup. She stood up straight and turned to look at her friend. “Yeah well not all of us have natural beauty like you. Most of us have to fake it.”  
“Yeah whatever. I’m getting tired of this “you’re so pretty and I’m not” talk. You are as pretty as you think you are. Remember that.” Trinity finished her outfit with a wrist band that looked like a belt. “Now let’s go.”  
The sun shone down brightly on the two as they made their way along the gray sidewalk to their school. Students filled the lawn outside the big brick building, most talking about the events of the previous evening. Trinity ignored them all and headed up the uneven steps into the school, Maze hurrying after.  
“I think it must have been on of those Chromite Rights fighters,” Trinity heard one of the students comment as she hurried past them.  
The two passed another group of students chattering away. “My mom says that this should get those lazy Acrylites off their butts and back to killing off the rest of the Chromites.”  
Trinity stopped in front of her locker and started working the lock.  
“Good riddance to them all.”  
Maze looked at her friend in surprise as she slammed her fist against the locker. “What’s wrong Trini?”  
“Nothing.” Trinity opened her locker, using the door to cover her face as she scowled. She had never thought what they had been taught about Chromites was true and now she had proof. Chromites were as much Primar as they were. “It makes me so mad.”  
“What does?”  
“They way everyone treats the Chromites.” She closed her locker and looked at her friend. “The Chromite boy at the zoo looked as much a Primar as you and I. The only difference is he has a Gamut. Why can’t anyone see that?”  
“You don’t know that Trini. You only saw him for a few minutes. I mean, he did stab you in the shoulder with a syringe.”  
“Which even a Primar in captivity would do. Maze, they are treating them like animals, like monsters, but they’re not. I know it. Primars only say the things they do because they don’t understand. And they won’t learn because they are afraid of them.”  
Maze sighed. “Oh please don’t tell me Trini.”  
“I did. I’m doing my report on Chromites.”  
“But you know Mr. Gamboge isn’t going to allow that. The Chromites weren’t even supposed to be on display, so how can you say you saw one and decided you wanted to do a report on it. He’s going to know it was you if you do this.”  
“I don’t care. I must educate the uneducated of the world. And if I must get in trouble for it, then let it be.”  
Maze groaned. “And I guess trying to talk you out of it won’t work.” Trinity shook her head. “Fine. Well good luck then.”  
Trinity put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I don’t need luck. But it is much appreciated. Now let’s get to class.” She turned and headed down the hall.  
Maze slumped her shoulders and dabbed at her forehead with her sleeve. No gray hairs yet, but she was sure after this she would find more than one.

“And that’s why I chose the Dramone.”  
Mr. Gamboge nodded as the students clapped. “Good. Who’s next?” He looked around the room. He noticed Trinity at the back of the room, her arms crossed and seat leaned back with her feet on the desk, a bored look on her face. He grinned. “Miss Alizarin why don’t you go next?”  
The other students in the classroom groaned. Trinity hid a smile as she picked up her papers and headed to the front. She winked at Maze as she passed her desk. Maze just groaned and sank lower in her seat.  
Trinity stepped up to the front of the class and stood with her legs wide apart, a confident look on her face. “I did my report on Chromites.”  
The class erupted with whispers and Gamboge frowned. “Quiet class. Miss Alizarin, I don’t remember seeing any Chromites on display at the zoo.”  
“That’s because they weren’t in any area we went in the zoo.”  
“I said the animal had to be in the zoo.”  
“But it was. It was in the part under construction.”  
The teacher’s eyebrow rose, a sinister smile forming on his face. “And how would you know it was in there, unless you went into the room? Which if I remember correctly said, ‘Do not enter.’”  
“Yes it did. But in a brochure at the zoo it said what all was on display in the room. And since I knew no one else would think to do a report on something that they didn’t see while touring the zoo, I thought it would be perfect.” She smiled. “Don’t you think Mr. Gamboge?”  
He frowned. “You may give your report.”  
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “The Chromite, by many, is thought to look like monsters or a horribly mutated version of a Primar, but it’s not true. Chromites are just Primaries with a special power called a Gamut. They look just like you and me.  
“Chromites came into existence thirty or more years ago in a small area in the mountains of Aristole. After that more appeared all over Craydoria. At first they were just thought to be the next Primar form, a higher version. Their senses were more heightened than ours and their eyes had the distinction of looking like the color of the iris was constantly swirling around the pupil. Later though, their Gamuts manifested themselves. Because of this the Primaries around them feared that they would use their Gamut to get rid of them and thus become the dominant species. This fear led them to capture all the Chromites, those that weren’t killed or used in experiments were used to entertain the masses. Then fifteen years ago, a young Chromite boy with the Gamut power to destroy things, used that power in anger against the Primaries and killed a whole city full of them before he was captured and killed. The Boyler massacre ensued where all Chromites in custody and outside were caught and killed.  
“Only a handful of Chromites survived and those are said to have either hidden away in caves in the Aristole mountains or have hidden themselves among us. Those that are born from a Chromite and a Primar have been named Tertiaries and only exhibit the connection in their eyes. Only a few exhibit even a faint showing of the Chromite Gamut.  
“Unlike what is taught in schools, Chromites are not Primaries that made a deal with demons. They are just another form of a Primar. There are good and bad of them just likes us. They are not monsters. If you gave them a chance you would see that too. If people had not gone hysterical over the differences between us the Boyler incident and the event that started it could have been avoided.” Trinity raised the notes to her face she had been holding but hadn’t looked at once. “And that is why I did my report on the Chromites. So that I could educate myself and you on what they are really like.”  
She smiled and walked over to Gamboge, setting her report on his desk. He picked it up and looked it over as she started back to her seat. “Um, excuse me Miss Alizarin. I asked that you have three sources. You don’t have any. Where did you get your information?”  
“Why from a Chromite of course.” She smiled and headed back to her desk as the class erupted in whispers again. She sat at her desk and smiled smugly as she watched Gamboge’s lips grow thinner, his face reddening. She knew he knew that she had talked to the Chromite, but he had no proof. She really hadn’t admitted anything.  
The bell for class to end rang. Students rose and gathered their things, meandering out of the class into the hall. Trinity stopped and stepped over to the teacher’s desk as he motioned to her.  
“You want me?”  
He nodded. “Yes. Seeing as how you have not sources I don’t know how much of this is true and how much is conjecture. I’m going to need you to get me some sources, or I’ll have to give you an ‘F.’”   
Trinity could see his eyes flash, challenging her. She forced a smile and took her report from him. “Yes sir. I’ll get right on that.”  
“Good. I want it turned in next class period. Two days should be enough I hope.”  
Trinity clenched her fist, her paper crumpling. “Yes. I’ll have it done.”  
She turned and headed out into the hall where Maze was waiting.  
“What did he want?”  
“I have to get three sources for my paper. I stayed up all night looking for information that fit what the blue haired Chromite said, but I couldn't find any.”  
“Well how do you know it was true?”  
“I just do. And if I use those sources then I’ll have to use their false information and that’s not what I want. I want to tell the true story.” She crumpled up her report in a ball and threw it against the wall where it bounced off and landed in the trash can below. “I hate that guy.”  
“Yeah well you can’t really expect him to take it when you don’t have the sources.”  
“Oh he’s not rejecting it cause of that. He’s being a butt because it’s me. I wish that jerk would let that whole stupid Carbonjole incident go.”  
“You burnt off his eyebrows.”  
“They grew back. And it wasn’t like I did it on purpose.”  
Maze sighed. They continued down the hall to their next class.

^ ^ ^

A burgundy desk piled high with ordered stacks of paperwork stood in a dimly lit room. A trim and neatly arranged man in a brown suit with the name tag “Cordovan” sat behind the desk. He ran his hand over his jelled hair and sighed. He stared at the picture of a smiling blue haired boy. That smile had taunted him for years as he had chased the boy all over Craydoria trying to capture him and his fellow Chromites. Now he had escaped again and he had been promoted just so he could capture them all.   
Crumpling the picture he threw it across the room where it bounced off the rim of the trash can and hit the ground. The door beside the trashcan opened and a skittish man with disheveled dark plum colored hair entered. He saw the piece of the trash on the floor and quickly bent down and tossed it into the can.  
“Sir, I have that report you wanted.”  
“Thank you Mulberry, give it to me.”  
The man held out his hand and took the report from the quivering man. He opened the file and looked it over. Inside was a complete report on Trinity Alizarin.  
“Parents deceased. Grades above average. Has been reported several times by a Mr. Gamboge for disturbing his class,” the officer read from the report.  
“Do you think she did it?” asked Mulberry nervously.  
Cordovan sighed. “I’m not sure. But she has some connection to this case. Go get me some coffee.”  
Mulberry bowed and scurried out of the room. Cordovan pulled the picture of Trinity out from the paperclip and smiled. “Yes, a very important connection.”

^ ^ ^

Trinity walked down the street towards her house. She bounced a pencil against her lip as she thought about her report. There had to be a way to get some sources. A bird cawed and she looked up. The sky was growing dark. She had been at Maze’s house working on another class’s project and hadn’t noticed how late it was when she had left.  
“Maybe I should have spent the night again.”  
She turned to head back to Maze’s house when something caught her eye. She turned and looked at it. What had caught her eye was the Ginford Fodd Plant. It was usually closed at this time of day but there was a faint light on inside. She bit her lip and looked around. No one else was in sight for her to ask about the strange occurance.  
“Guess I better go check it out.” She walked towards the fence surrounding the plant and started climbing. She jumped down once on the other side and headed towards the building. Climbing up on a crate she peeked in through a window. Inside three men were moving boxes into a truck. Nothing looked suspicious until one of the men dropped a box spilling its contents of food onto the floor. He then proceeded to pick up the wrapped food with his own hands and a whole extra pair attached to him.  
She gasped. “Chromites. What are they doing here? I thought the blue haired boy said they were in the mountains hiding. This doesn’t look like hiding to me.”  
Climbing down from the box, she wandered around the building to the back where the loading dock was located. The three men appeared to be getting ready to finish up their night of raiding. Trinity crawled closer to the truck and peered around the garage entrance. She wondered if they knew the blue haired boy.  
Trinity had been thinking about him a lot lately. He had seemed like someone she could get along with, minus the drugging. If he had been born a Primar and went to her school she was sure they would have been friends. She had worried lately that he might have been captured after escaping but she was sure they would have said something in the news. Although they hadn’t reported his escape from the zoo, so she was skeptical.  
She heard a clattering sound to her right and turned to look. Her eyes widened as a group of Acrylites headed straight towards her. Of course if she had noticed the light someone else would have. But Acrylites were only dispensed to catch Chromites, how had they know this was a Chromite job?  
Crawling behind a box she heard the Chromites cry out as they also saw the Acrylites. The engine of the truck started up and she heard the heavy foot falls of the men as they jumped into its back. The sound of Subters firing followed. Trinity covered her head as the shots hit the wall above her causing chips of debris to fall down on her. The front tire of the truck exploded as it was hit and the truck tipped to the side.  
“Get them!” cried the Acrylite leader.  
Trinity cried out and ran out from behind her box as a glass window shattered above her. She caught the eye of a Chromite as he exited the back of the truck. He ran over to her, grabbing her before she could react. He lifted her up off the ground and squeezed his arm tightly around her neck.  
“Don’t move or I’ll let her have it.” He pointed his finger at her face. It slowly morphed into a metal spike. He pressed it against her cheek till blood seeped out. The Acrylites continued forward. “I mean it! I’ll kill her!”  
“Wait, stop!” The Acrylites froze. Their commander pressed through them to the front. Trinity recognized him as the Acrylite from the zoo, Cordovan. He held out his hands to the Chromite. “Just put her down. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.”  
The Chromite holding her snorted. “Yeah, I bet. At least not any Primaries, am I right?”  
“Let the girl go. She has nothing to do with this.”  
“You let us go and I’ll let her go.”  
“Captain, they can’t be reasoned with. They are animals,” hissed a solder behind Cordovan.  
“I know. Just wait until you see an opening and shoot him in the head. But be careful, I don’t want the girl to get hurt.” He looked back to the Chromite. “Alright, we can make a deal. Let the girl go now and we’ll let you go.”  
“I don’t think so.” He squeezed Trinity’s neck harder. “Not till we’re far from here.”  
Cordovan clenched his jaw. “And how will I know that you won’t hurt her once you are away?”  
“You have my word. What would I gain from hurting her? We just want to get away with the food.”  
“No, girl and food stays.”  
“Sir, I have a shot.”  
“Take it.”  
There was a bang and blood splattered on Trinity as the man’s arm slipped from her neck. Blood red, just like hers.  
She stepped back, her eyes wide as she looked down at the man, a hole through his head, blood seeping all around him.  
Cordovan held out his hand. “Come here. Quick.”  
Trinity looked up at him, her mind in a daze. She stepped back. “You…you killed him.”  
“Come here. We won’t hurt you.”  
“You killed him.” Trinity’s voice rose. “You killed him!”  
The truck to her right suddenly lurched forward. Trinity looked down once more at the Chromite with blood all around him. She clenched her fist and then turned and headed around to the back of the truck and jumped inside.  
The Acrylite leader swore. “What are you doing?! Get back here?”  
The two Chromites inside the truck stared at her from her appearance.  
“Go!” she yelled. She didn’t have to tell them twice. The truck lurched forward again, tires spinning as it sped off.  
Cordovan pushed a soldier beside him in frustration. “Get them!”

Trinity sat in the corner of the truck and looked down at her hands, speckled with the blood of the Chromite. The other two men sat on the opposite side of the truck, not having moved since she entered. Every now and then they whispered a few words to each other and then fell silent. They seemed to be debating about what to do with the Primar girl. Trinity was too lost in her own thoughts to even notice them. She knew that by shooting the Chromite man the Acrylites had taken her out of danger, but something about it didn’t feel right to her. They had Subters for a reason, to neutralize the Chromite’s Gamut. They could have used that without killing anyone. And earlier when they had been shooting, she thought it had been Subter’s, but the weapons she had seen them holding later looked nothing like them. And she hadn’t heard of Subter’s ever having been able to shatter brick or break glass. They were supposed to be neutralizers. Just a laser only powerful enough to knock out a Chromite. What had they been using?  
One of the men finally got up enough courage and moved closer to her.   
“What are you doing here?” he asked nervously.  
She turned her head and looked at them. The way they were looking at her made her feel like they thought she was the monster. Did all Chromites view Primaries this way?  
“I didn’t feel safe staying with the Acrylites,” she replied.  
“Oh.” The man slid back next to his friend.  
Trinity’s mind finally came back to her present situation. She was starting to wonder if jumping into the truck had been such a good idea. She didn’t know anything about these Chromites. Just because the blue haired boy had been nice didn’t mean these men were. Case in point with the spike fingered man. But then in his situation, who knows if she wouldn’t have done the same thing.  
She looked over at the contents of the truck. It appeared the men had only been able to get six large boxes on the truck before the Acrylites had come.  
“What could they want with all this food?” she wondered to herself.   
The truck jerked as it hit a big pothole. It hit another and completely stopped. The driver in the seat swore and opened his door. “We’re gonna have to run from here. This truck’s shot.”  
One of the men in the back stood up. “Should we take some of the supplies with us?”  
“Take it at your own risk. I’m off now.” The driver bent over, his bones snapping as he shifted into a deer and sprinted off.  
The one that had asked about the food jumped out of the back and turned back to his friend. “Come on we gotta get out of here before they catch up.”  
“But the food.”  
“Leave it, let’s go.” He turned and ran off, his body slowly changing to look like the surrounding trees.  
Trinity turned and looked back at the remaining man. He looked down at the boxes of food and chewed his lip anxiously.  
“I’ll help you carry it.”  
He turned and looked at her. “But—but you’re just a Primar.”  
She stood up and grabbed an armful of the food packets. “I won’t judge you for being a Chromite if you don’t judge me for being a Primar.”  
His mouth twitched with a smile. “Alright. But let’s try something other than carrying it in armfuls.”  
Trinity and the man crashed through the woods later carrying a full box together.   
“We need this food,” he had said. When she had asked why he just looked away with a sad expression. She decided it was best to ask him later and agreed to carrying the box. They picked the smallest of the six and started off through the dense foliage.  
He ducked as he came to a tree branch hanging low; she did the same when she came to it. She hadn’t noticed till now, but he was the same height as her. Which was rather tall for a girl but barely average for a guy. And there were other things about him that she thought he must have gotten ridiculed for such as his narrow shoulders. His build was rather thin for a guy and his features soft like a girl’s. She had almost wandered at first if he was a girl, if not for his Adam’s apple. He looked young too, about her age, but she wondered if he wasn’t maybe older.  
His magenta hair flashed in the moonlight as he turned his head to look back at her. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he strained a smile back at her. “We’re almost there.”  
She nodded and hefted up the box more in her arms. From his build she wondered if he wasn’t more of the academic type. But then why had he come on such a physically straining mission? She would have to ask him later.  
“Oh, by the way, my name’s Luke, Luke Cerise. And thank you for the help.”  
She smiled. “No problem. And I’m Trinity Alizarin.”  
He nodded his head in a bow. “It’s very nice to meet you.”  
He seemed genuinely nice. A real gentleman. It was a shame he had to be on the run like this. He still looked pale from the death of his friend earlier. Trinity felt anger building up inside of her and she clenched the sides of the box tighter. She wanted to yell at someone. Tell them how wrong it was to persecute these people that were just like them. But they probably wouldn’t even listen, which made even more mad.  
“There it is.”  
She looked up as they stepped out of the woods into a neatly kept field. Across the field stood a big imposing manor that looked like something out of an old gothic novel. Trinity half expected there to be a flash of lightning behind it and the sudden appearance of a black haired maiden in a white dress, but she didn’t see either.  
The two continued up to the manor, setting down the box outside the double doors. Luke reached up and used the knocker to knock three times.  
“No one seems to be home. Guess we should take our product to the next house.”  
The door opened then and a boy with fluffy gray hair looked up at them.  
“Oh Char, good. Help us carry this inside.” Luke motioned to the box.  
The three carried the box inside and set it down in front of a flight of stairs. Trinity looked up at them, hoping that wasn’t the boxes next stop. She turned as she heard footsteps coming from the hall to the side. A tall and slender woman dressed in a long green dress stepped out of the shadows and smiled warmly.  
“Oh Luke I was so worried. Tom and Hank just got back a half-hour or so ago and I was afraid you had been lost.”  
Luke bowed. “Lady Celadon I would like you to meet Miss Trinity Alizarin.” He motioned to her.  
The woman in green stepped over to them and looked Trinity over. “It is very nice to meet you Miss Alizarin. You may call me Don.”  
“Um, okay.” Trinity looked over at Luke unsure of what to make of the woman.  
The woman flipped her forest green hair behind her as she turned and motioned for Trinity to follow her. “I believe we have an acquaintance in common.” She headed back down the dark hall she had come from with Trinity following behind.  
“Oh really.” Trinity absently eyed the paintings and decorations lining the hall. “Who would that be?”  
“Well I’m not absolutely sure, but you fit his description to a T. I don’t know if you know his name, but he goes by Alt here.”  
“Is someone talking about me?”  
The hall exited into a large library. Trinity looked for the owner of the new voice and found him standing up on the second floor of the library. The blue haired boy smiled down at her as he set the book he had been holding down.  
“Well if it isn’t the girl from the zoo. What are you doing here?”  
“I could ask you the same thing,” she replied.  
“This is Celadon manor, the Chromite haven in this land,” he replied as he walked down the spiral staircase to the bottom floor. He kept walking until he was right up in her face. He smiled. “Did you miss me?”  
She stumbled back from him. “I don’t even know you.”  
“Oh right.” He held out his hand to her. “Name’s Cobalt, but all my friends call me Alt.”  
She cautiously took his hand. “Trinity.”  
He shook her hand vigorously, smiling bigger. “It’s very nice to meet you. Oh and, sorry about stabbing you with that needle. I had to get out of there before they finished deciding what they were going to do with me.”  
She pulled her hand out of his. “Yeah, it’s okay. I understand. Not everything, but I understand.”  
“Good. Now, what are you doing here?”  
“Well I…”

^ ^ ^

Cordovan punched the tree in front of him and quickly regretted it. He kissed his knuckle and held it to his chest, wincing from the pain.  
“I can’t believe you lost them. How could you have lost them?”  
“I don’t know sir. It’s like they just all flew off all of the sudden. After crashing the truck we lost all trace of them.”  
Cordovan glared at the soldier. “And the girl?”  
“Can’t find her.”  
“Well fan out and search more. There has to be some hint as to where they went. Go!”  
The soldiers saluted and ran off. Mulberry stepped over to his captain’s side.  
“Sir--.”  
“I know, I know. We’ve already looked an hour already, but we haven’t found anything. I can’t believe we haven’t found anything. There has to be something we missed. Think about that poor girl Mulberry, she must be scared to death. Who knows what terrible things those monsters are doing to her? We must find her. I must save her.”  
Mulberry rung his hands and nodded. “Yes sir. But it’s really late now and—and they say Chromites infest these woods.”  
“Well good. Then we have to find one and then we’ll ask him where his friends are. Now go and shake some trees and find me a Chromite to interrogate.”  
“Yes—yes sir.”  
Cordovan exhaled and rubbed his face. He wondered what had compelled Trinity to jump into the back of the Chromite van. Maybe one of them had used some kind of mind control on her, or the sight of the dead Chromite had scared all sense out of her. Whatever the reason he had to find her before something horrible happened to her. Who knew what those creatures did to beautiful girls like her.  
“They’re probably getting her ready for a sacrifice to their god right now.” He growled and kicked the tree, yelping in pain. “Stupid tree. I will cut you down!” He grabbed the tree and started struggling with it like a wrestling opponent. His men knew to leave him alone and just walked past as they continued their search.  
He sighed and let go of the tree, breathing heavily from the struggle. This girl had him acting strange. From the first moment he had seen her he hadn’t been the same. It was as if she was a witch and he was under her spell. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. He had hoped to grow closer to her through having her as a suspect in the blue haired Chromites case, but now there was no chance of that.  
He smiled as a new plan formed in his mind. Now he would be able to show her his heroic side by saving her from the Chromite fiends. He would be her knight in shining armor come to save her from the dragon. What girl wouldn’t fall in love with that? She was as good as his. Nothing would stand in his way.  
“Come on men, bring me something, anything. We must save the damsel!”

^ ^ ^

Trinity followed Alt down the halls of the manor, pretending not to notice how he kept glancing back at her. The two stopped into a kitchen that had both old and new appliances standing side by side.  
“Are you hungry?”  
She shook her head. He shrugged and opened the fridge and started pulling out fixings for a sandwich.  
“So who is this Lady Celadon? Is she a Chromite too?”  
“No. She’s a Tertiary though.”  
“So one of her parents was a Chromite and the other a Primar, right? That’s what you said before.”  
He nodded. “Yeah. Her dad was the famous scientist Rubix Celadon. The one that did all those experiments on Chromites to see how they worked.”  
“But then how was Lady Don born?”  
“Another one of his experiments.”  
She frowned. “That’s sick.”  
“What?” His eyes narrowed. “The part about breeding with a Chromite or--.”  
“No. I mean the part about using it as an experiment. About her being nothing more than an observation to him. That’s why he kept her around right? Just to observe her and what having Chromite blood would do.”  
He nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly it. Lady Celadon hates that part of her lineage. The blood money gained through Chromite experiments. She’s trying to make up for her family by helping us. She doesn’t agree with the way we are treated.”  
“I don’t either.”  
He stared at her for a bit. “You don’t?”  
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Primaries and Chromites are like brothers and sisters.”  
“Not too so much like brother and sister I hope.” He grinned as she cocked her head to the side.  
“What?”  
“Nothing. So you really are okay with Chromites?”  
“Yeah sure. Why not?”  
He leaned in close to her. “I just wanted to make sure.” He smiled. Trinity felt her face warm as he looked into her eyes. The sound of her heart beat in her ears. She had never felt this way before, what was going on?  
“So uh, Alt.” She backed away from him. “How’d you get in that zoo anyway?”  
He sighed and turned away from her. She felt a prick of guilt at having asked.  
“My parents were killed in the Boyler attack. After that I was raised by this old couple that found me. They didn’t know I was a Chromite till later when my Gamut appeared. It freaked them out and they had always been afraid of Chromites, so they sent me away. The Acrylites took me to their testing facility where I was poked and prodded everyday.”  
“I really don’t need to know if you don’t want to rem--.”  
“No. You want to know what it’s like being a Chromite, here it is.  
He sighed and continued. “I tried to escape a bunch of times but they were sharp and their Subters kept my powers constantly neutralized. Then one day a group of Chromites on the outside found the facility and attacked. A bunch of us got out and decided to head up to the Aristole Mountains. But the Acrylites were hot on our tails, particularly a soldier named Cordovan. He and I had a lot of misunderstandings while I was imprisoned.  
“We caught a ride on the back of a truck, but I guess he knew about Chromites and their eyes because at the next stop a whole army of Acrylites were waiting. They captured us all and took us back to the facility. But the facility had had enough of me and my escape attempts. A zoo had asked for a Chromite for display purposes so they sent me. They didn’t think my phasing Gamut was that dangerous. I mean, it wasn’t like I could blow up an entire city block. So I went there and Cordovan followed to keep an eye on me. And that’s where I stayed for the last two years, till you saved me.” He smiled. “Thanks again for that.”  
She nodded and tried to smile but couldn’t. She couldn’t believe how horrible her people were treating them. Maze would have cried at this point and hugged him, but Trinity wasn’t that emotional. She felt bad and wanted to do something, but not cry. She was more prone to getting mad and doing something to spite the person.  
“So are you going to head to the mountains now?”  
He nodded. “When the Acrylites have cooled down a little, then we head that way. This house is just like a stop over between here and there.”  
Luke ran in then, his face flushed. “They’re here!”  
“Who’s here?”  
A loud bang from the entrance of the house answered his question. “Get back you Chromite scum, you all are under arrest.”  
Alt scowled. “Acrylites.”  
“Lady Celadon says we gotta use the passage to escape.”  
“But what about the supplies. They need that food in the mountains.”  
Luke shook his head helplessly. “I don’t know. We have to get out now.”  
Alt put his hand on Luke’s shoulder. “You go Luke. You got the food here, now I’ll do my part.”  
“But--.”  
“Go!” Alt pushed him. “And be safe.”  
Luke stared at him unsurely and then turned and headed down the hall away from the sounds of the Acrylites.  
“What are you gonna do?” Trinity asked.  
“I’m gonna get the food out of here.” Alt headed down the hall towards the Acrylites.   
Trinity bit her lip and looked down both halls. She nodded her head and headed down the hall after him.  
Both exited into the entrance hall at the same time. Lady Celadon knelt on the ground beside the Chromite truck driver from earlier that night. He was bleeding and it looked bad. The boy with the fluffy gray hair stood beside her glaring daggers at the Acrylites who pointed their un-Subter looking guns at the little group. Three more Chromites Trinity hadn’t seen before crouched behind Celadon. They were pale and one looked like they were about to faint.  
Cordovan stepped past his men and stood in front of the Chromites.  
“Where is the girl?”  
“What girl?”  
“You know what girl!” he barked.  
The gray haired boy, Char, glanced to the side where Trinity and Alt were standing. Cordovan noticed and looked where he had. He turned and walked towards them, two Acrylites following him.  
“Ah. If it isn’t Alt.” The two glared at each other, sparks flying.  
“Cordovan.”  
“You should have run while you had the chance. Now you are going back to your cell, and this one doesn’t have as nice a view.” Cordovan turned his head and looked at Trinity, finally noticing her. “My lady.” He pushed Alt away and stepped towards her, taking her hand in his and kissed it. “I am so happy to find you in good health.”  
She blinked and stared at him like he had three heads. “What?”  
“I have come to rescue you my lady from these monsters. Men, take these creatures back to the trucks. Milady, you may ride with him.” He held out his arm to her for her to take it. She just stared.  
Celadon cried out as the men grabbed her roughly and pulled her away from the injured man. Trinity heard her ask them to be gentle with him, but the men ignored her and picked the man up even more roughly than her. Blood trailed behind as they dragged him towards the door.  
Trinity stepped back from Cordovan. “You’re the monsters!”  
All action stopped and everyone turned and looked at her.  
“Those aren’t Subters you are using. Way to go capturing a bunch of women and children. Real men,” she snapped sarcastically. “You work with these people everyday and yet you are still blind to the fact that they bleed just like us. They are us!”  
Cordovan reached out to her. “Miss Alizarin it’s okay. We are here to protect you.”  
She stepped away. “I’d feel safer in a meat grinder.”  
He winced and pulled his hand back. His face became serious. “I don’t think you realize how dangerous these creatures can be.”  
“They’re not creatures!”  
“Well they’re not Primaries. They might bleed but that is where the similarities stop.”  
“You’re an idiot.”  
“Trinity.” She turned and looked at Alt. He shook his head. “Don’t Trinity. Just go with him. Don’t worry about us. Just forget us.”  
“No. I won’t let this happen. I won’t let them take you!”  
Trinity reached out and grabbed the Subter on Cordovan’s belt while she wrapped her arm around his neck. She turned him around and pointed the gun to his temple. “Put your Subters down!”  
Subter’s made a charging sound as the Acrylites all raised their weapon and pointed them at her. Cordovan held out his hands. “No, put them down. Don’t fire. Put your weapons down.”  
Weapons lowered reluctantly and the men stepped away. Trinity kept a tight hold on him and slowly backed towards the door. “Alt, you other two get that guy and carry him to this truck.”  
Alt and the other Chromites did so, gently placing the injured man into the back of the Acrylite truck. Lady Celadon and the boy got in behind. Trinity backed up to the truck.  
“Alt, what about the food?”  
He shook his head. “Not if we want to get away.”  
Trinity hesitated. She didn’t know why, but that food was very important to the Chromites. They had to have it.  
“Cord, tell your men to get that box there and put it in the back of this truck.”  
Cordovan pointed to himself. “Me?”  
“Yes you!”  
Cordovan smiled, in complete ecstasy that his darling Trinity had given him a nickname. “You heard the lady, get that box.”  
The men stepped back from the truck once the box was inside.  
“Now all of you get inside the manor and shut the doors. Go!”  
Stepping back, they slowly made their way back into the manor, keeping their eyes on her the whole time. Trinity waited until the doors were fully closed before she kicked Cordovan away from her and jumped into the back of the truck.  
“Drive!”  
The tires screeched as the gas was pressed hard. Dust and gravel flew back and landed on the Acrylite commander as the truck sped off. The manor doors opened and his men rushed out and ran over to him.  
“Sir are you okay?”  
Cordovan raised his head, a stunned look on his face.  
“Are you injured sir?”  
He shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”  
“I know sir. Why would a Primar do that to a fellow Primar?”  
“No not that.” Cordovan stood, clenching his fist. “I can’t believe she flung me away like a dirty rag. I thought she would at least hold me hostage for a bit longer.”  
His men sighed.  
“But don’t worry my love, I’m not angry. I’ll save you. Let’s go men. We can catch up to them in no time.”  
“But sir, she shot our tires.”  
Cordovan looked over at the recently deflated tires. “When did she do that?”  
“You must have been to busy thinking about how close she was to you to notice. She did it right before she told us to go inside.”  
He sighed. “Fine. Call head quarters we’ll have them come and pick us up. They might have a good head start by then but we’ll still catch them. Love will find the way!”  
The soldiers groaned and walked away from their commander. Mulberry stepped over to his superior.  
“Sir, what are you going to do to the girl when we catch her?” He winced, afraid of his boss’s reaction.  
“Do to her?”  
“She held you hostage sir? The rules say--.”  
“I know what the rules say. I didn’t get this job by my looks. But I don’t think she meant it. She was just under duress. You know that Alt can be very persuasive. He must have done something to her. Now come with me. We must see if there isn’t some clue in this place as to where they might have gone.” He turned and marched back into the manor.

^ ^ ^

Trinity and the small group of Chromites trudged up the mountain side. They had abandoned the truck miles before reaching the base of the mountain. Alt and Celadon had feared it might have a tracing chip and didn’t want to take the risk of the Acrylites finding them with it.  
The path up the mountain was hard and Trinity found herself falling a lot. She looked back at Alt and another Chromite male who were carrying the injured driver. She was surprised they hadn’t fallen yet. Was she really that clumsy?  
“We’re almost there.” Trinity turned and looked at Celadon. “I can see the caves up ahead.”  
Trinity looked where Celadon had motioned. Up ahead just looked like more rocks, she didn’t see any caves.   
Alt passed her, grinning. “You need to take a break?” Sweat beaded on his forehead and the guy helping him was breathing heavily from the long journey. She shook her head.  
“No I’m fine. Thanks. Do you need help?”  
“No, we’re fine.” He winked. “Thanks.”  
Up at the top of the path there was a big gash in the mountain that opened up into a cave. The group headed in and down into the dark recesses of the cavern. Trinity started to wonder why they were heading in so deep until she saw a light ahead. The narrow tunnel opened into a big cavern where a large group of people were gathered.   
A man in a tattered coat ran over to the group. “Bring him over here.” He motioned to a little tent where some medical supplies were gathered. The two set him down on the table and the man in the coat immediately got to work.  
Trinity stepped over to Alt as he watched the man. “What is this place?”  
He turned to her, his face grim. “This is where Chromites go when there is nowhere else to hide. Our final destination.”  
Trinity looked around at this “final destination.” It sounded true in every sense of the world. Chromites were scattered all around the cave, each looking worse as they got back farther into the cave. Eyes hollow with hunger stared at her, faces covered in dirt. Their clothes barely covered them, most less than rags. Little children which would usually be running around, just sat on the ground and stared down. It looked more like the place Chromites went to die than anything else.  
“This is horrible. I can’t believe the Primaries are letting this happen. They treat their pets better than this.”  
Alt nodded. “Yeah, but their pets can’t level a whole town.”  
Trinity frowned. “That was one incident and it was mostly their fault that it happened. Why can’t they see that they are the real monsters? It’s just no fair.”  
“I agree, but there is nothing we can do.”  
“Is there? Is there nothing we can do? Cause I think there has to be someway to get through to those idiots.”  
He reached over and patted her shoulder. “I like your spirit Trinity, but it’s too late. We are a dying people. We’ve all resigned ourselves to that fact. All we have to do now is wait.”  
“But you can’t give up. I can’t believe you are really going to let this happen. We have to fight.”  
“We’ve been fighting, for a long time. We’re all fought out now. The Primaries just want us dead, so we’ll just let their wish come true. They’ll be happier when we’re gone anyway. Everyone will.”  
Grabbing his shoulders she shook him angrily. “You can’t be serious! I can’t let this happen!”  
“What are you going to do to stop it Trinity Alizarin, you are just one person.”  
“Yeah well I can be pretty loud for one person.”  
Alt smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. Cause we’re really not ready to give up either. We need more Primars like you Trinity.”  
Alt groaned as Trinity’s fist hit him in the stomach. “What was that for?”  
She frowned and folded her arms. “For making me worry. Loser.” She turned away.He smiled.  
“Sorry. I just wanted to see how committed you were to helping us. If you really cared to help a dying race.”  
She turned back around. “Your race is as much yours as mine. If we don’t work together what’s the point of either of us living? You’re a part of us just like water and air.”  
Alt took her hand in his and squeezed it. “You don’t know how happy that makes me feel.”  
She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Now don’t get all cheesy on me now Alt.” She pulled her hand out of his. “Come show me around.” Turning, she headed back to where the other Chromites were.  
He smiled and followed her.

An hour passed and the men that had been sent out to retrieve the food hadn’t returned. Alt stood up. “I’m going to go check on them.”  
Trinity looked up at him from the little girl’s hair she had been trying to braid. She let go of the tangled mess and stood up. “I’ll go with you.”  
“No I don’t think--.”  
“They’re coming!” One of the three men ran into the cave, his two companions coming up behind him. “The Acrylites are here! They’re coming straight here!”  
Mothers cried out and grabbed onto their children. Fathers hurriedly gathered up their things and tried to get their wives to stand.  
“What are we going to do? We’re doomed!” cried one of the panicked Chromites.  
“Everyone calm down.” Celadon stepped up onto a box. “We can all get out through the back exit if we hurry.”  
“No chance,” replied one of the men. “They’ve got that way blocked off too. There’s no escape.”  
Alt grabbed onto Trinity as she started walking off. “Where are you going?”  
“I’m gonna talk to the Cord guy. He’s probably here to get me. If he has me maybe he’ll leave you alone.”  
“No Trinity, that’s not how it works. He’s a Chromite hunter. He’s not going to let a whole cave full of them get away for just one girl.”  
Trinity grinned and pulled her hand out of his. “But I’m one special girl.” She turned and ran back towards the cave entrance. Outside truck’s engines revved and choppers floated above, their search lights shining down into the cave. Trinity covered her face with her arm and climbed out of the cave up onto the mountainside. A rock exploded beside her and she fell back into the cave.  
“Hey, don’t shoot!” Taking off her jacket she waved it in the air above her head. “I’m a Primar, don’t shoot!”  
Another shot hit the ground near her and she ducked down deeper into the mouth of the cave.  
An Acrylite hurried over to Cordovan. “Sir, we’ve got a Chromite cornered at the entrance.”  
“What are they doing?”  
“They’re waving some cloth like a flag.”  
“Give me your binoculars.” He grabbed them and looked towards the entrance. Trinity peeked her out then, he gasped as a shot exploded near her. “Cease fire! Don’t fire that’s the hostage!” A man near him fired a shot. He grabbed the man’s Subter and hit him with it. “I said stop!”  
Trinity coughed as the dirt stirred up by the shots floated around her.  
“Trinity come here,” hissed Alt from further down in the cave.  
“No, I think I’ve got their attention.”  
Alt sighed. “Trinity those aren’t regular Subters.”  
“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”  
“Those are built specifically to injure or kill. They shoot metal shots, not harmless lazers.”  
She shushed him. “You hear that?”  
“Hear what?”  
“No shots. I think they realized who I was.” Alt cried out to her as she stood up and got out of the hole in the mountain’s side. She waved her arms. “Hey, it’s me!”  
Cordovan grabbed a speaker. “Trinity Alizarin we’re here to save you! Come to us and we’ll keep those Chromites from coming after you.”  
“No!”  
He blinked. “No? What do you mean no?”  
“I won’t come unless you make a deal with me.”  
Cordovan looked over at Mulberry who shrugged. “What kind of deal?”  
Trinity smiled. “I’m glad you asked.”

Cordovan grinned as he watched the Chromites being handcuffed and led into the backs of the Acrylite trucks. Things had gone better than he had expected with the help of Trinity. He hadn’t had to fire a single shot, minus the ones fired at her. He would have to remember to find out those soldiers names later and punish them. A flash of gray caught his eye. He stepped over to the boy and put his hand on his shoulder.  
“Wait, this one doesn’t need cuffs,” he smiled down at the gray haired owl boy, “He’s free to go.”  
Alt, who stood behind the two looked confused as Char was uncuffed. “What do you mean? Why are you letting him go?”  
Cordovan grinned. “Why Alt? You jealous? This is what we do for friends of the Acrylites.” He put his hand on the boys shoulder. “Friends who lead us to Chromites secret lairs.”  
Alt looked down at Char in disbelief. “What? This can’t be true.”  
Char rubbed at his wrists, his eyes avoiding Alt’s. “It is true. I made a deal with them.”  
The Acrolyte leader nodded. “Just before you and him escaped too. Promised he’d infiltrate your ranks and have you lead him here. Then he’d tell us the exact location.” He ruffled the boy’s hair. “Such a good stool pigeon.”  
“I can’t believe you Char. I thought you were our friend.”  
Char looked away. “Yeah well, you were wrong.”  
Cordovan pushed Alt towards the truck. “Now get in there. We have a long ways back to the holding cells. Won’t that be fun?”  
Alt glared at him as the door shut in front of him. Cordovan turned and headed back to his car where Trinity waited in the passenger seat. He smiled as he slid into the driver’s seat.  
“I’m so glad you are sa--.”  
“May I have your cell phone?” Trinity held out her hand.  
“Uh, sure.” He handed it to her. “Are you calling your guardian?”  
“Yeah sure.” She dialed a number and held the phone up to her ear. “Hey Maze, this is Trinity. Can you do me a favor?” She turned away from him, covering her mouth so that he couldn’t hear her. Cordovan stared at her for a bit and then started up the car. He put it into drive and then followed slowly behind the Chromite filled trucks.

The trucks stopped outside the Chromite prison. When they didn’t move inside Cordovan rolled down his window and looked out. News trucks were lined all along the front of the building. He pulled his head back inside and looked over at Trinity.  
“I wonder what they are doing here.” He smiled and adjusted his tie. “I bet they are here to interview me about my epic capture.”  
Trinity grinned deviously. “Oh I’m sure that’s it.”  
Cordovan opened his door and the two got out and headed towards the news trucks. He noticed as they got closer that not just reporters were there but also regular citizens. He frowned as he noticed a group of teenagers with signs reading such things as “Free the Chromites” “Chromites are Primaries too!” and other such protests.  
“What in the world is this?”  
“Open the trucks.”  
He turned and looked at her.” What?”  
“They are here for the Chromites. Open the trucks and let them see them.”  
Just then a loud cry came from the group of teens. “Free the Chromites!”  
“Is this your doing? Is that what that secret phone call was about? I thought you were telling your friend about the handsome Acrolyte you met.”  
She snorted. “Yeah right. Now open the trucks please.”  
He sighed. He couldn’t say no to her. “Open the trucks!”  
His soldiers looked at him and then did so. The Chromites squinted as the bright lights from the reporters trucks flashed at their newly exposed eyes. The braver ones in the group slowly climbed out of the trucks and looked around. Most though stayed cringed back in the corners of the trucks.  
Maze hurried over to her friend’s side. “It took a lot but, do you think I got enough people?”  
Trinity smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t know there were so many Chromite supporters.”  
“I know me neither. But once I found one, I got them all here.”  
Trinity patted her friend on the back. “Good job Maze. You did awesome.” A swarm of reporters headed over to Celadon and a group of Chromites then, peppering them with questions. “Now everyone will see what their fear and hatred has caused. They can’t ignore it anymore.”

^ ^ ^

Trinity slapped down her Chromite report on Mr. Gamboge’s desk the next day.  
“There you are sir, three sources. One from an interview with a real life Chromite, another from a Tertiary, and another from the reports of a guy who did studies on Chromites.” She smiled. “Will that do?”  
His lips thinned and he adjusted his glasses. “Yes, I suppose so.”  
Trinity turned and headed back to her desk, smiling at Maze as she passed. Gamboge stood up and walked to the front of the class.  
He cleared his throat. “Today is a very historical day. This is the first day that we have the pleasure of integrating Chromites into our school.” He frowned. “Some of you may not like this, but you will have to get over it. The president has ordered that we treat them just like we would another Primar.” He sighed. “Now let’s get to class.”  
Someone made a hissing sound behind Trinity.  
She turned and looked back at Alt. He smiled. “I don’t think your teacher likes us.”  
She smiled back. “Well he’s just going to have to get over it.”  
“Miss Alizarin,” called Gamboge from the front of the room. “Would you like to come up here and do this math problem?”  
“No sir.”  
He turned back around. Trinity and Alt snickered.  
The three stepped out into the hall after class. Trinity turned as she heard her name being called. She smiled as she saw a familiar magenta haired boy heading her way.  
“Luke!” she hugged the boy. “I was wondering what happened to you.”  
“Well I was capture by the Acrylites at first, but after that big news fiasco they let me go. So I found out what school you went to and,” he smiled, “now I’m enrolled here.”  
“That’s great. Oh Luke, this is my friend Maze.”  
Maze smiled and said shyly, “Hi.”  
He smiled back, his face reddening slightly. “Hi.”  
Trinity and Alt grinned.  
“Miss Alizarin, Miss Alizarin!”  
Luke looked confused as Trinity groaned and hid behind Alt.   
“I’m not here.”  
“What’s wrong?”  
Trinity motioned to the man running towards them in a smart brown uniform. “That’s what’s wrong. That Acrylite Cordovan got assigned to security here at the school to make sure the Chromites and Primaries get along. But really he’s just here so he can be near me. I can’t stand it, I’ve gotta get out of here.” Alt laughed as she turned and ran off the opposite way.  
Cordovan ran over and looked around. “Where’s Miss Alizarin?”  
“Oh um, she had to get something,” replied Maze.  
His shoulders slumped. “Oh. Guess I’ll have to catch her later.”  
“Why don’t you just give up, Cordy?” asked Alt. “You know she doesn’t like you. And she never will.”  
“Oh, and you probably think that she likes you?”  
“More than you.”  
Cordovan puffed out his chest. “Challenge accepted!”  
“What?”  
“I will not let you take my fair Trinity from me. You already took my captain rank but you will not take my lady. I will defeat you Cobalt. For my love!” He raised his fist and then ran off down the hall. Alt sighed.  
“That guy has a screw loose.”  
Maze nodded. “Definitely weird.”  
“Is he gone?” Maze jumped as her friend appeared behind her. Alt nodded. “Oh good.” The warning bell rang. Trinity grabbed Maze’s and Luke’s hand. “Come on, let’s get to class.”   
Alt laughed and ran after the three. “What’s the rush?”  
Trinity smiled back at him. “We don’t want to be late. We might miss out on some adventure.”  
“Everyday is an adventure with you Trinity,” replied Maze as she stumbled along behind her friend.  
And Maze was right. Everyday was an adventure.

The End


End file.
